Diagnosis Diabetic Ketoacidosis
by DreamerChild88
Summary: Shannon and Spencer Reid have their world turned upside down when one of their children is diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. The next story in my 'Shannon Grace' series. FUTURE FIC


AN: Here's the next story in my 'Shannon Grace' series. This one can be read on it's own, but it will make more sense if you've read the other stories in the series.

Aug 2020

Twelve year old Julia Reid glanced at the clock on her nightstand. She was surprised when she saw that it was 12:50pm. Even after sleeping for ten hours, she was still exhausted. As tired as she was, she was also very thirsty. After discovering that the water bottle on her night stand was empty, she realized that she would have to get out of bed if she wanted something to drink. She sat up, only to discover that her vision was really blurry and that moving made her dizzy. Still feeling dizzy, Julia slowly walked toward her bedroom door. She took a couple of steps but the blurry vision, dizziness, and exhaustion made walking next to impossible. She took another step and collapsed to the floor. Too weak to move, she stayed on the floor for what seemed like forever until her dad walked past her room.

"Julia are you okay?" Spencer questioned as he walked into her room.

"I fell," was her reply.

"Are you hurt? Do you need help getting up?" he inquired.

"Don't wanna get up," she replied.

"What's wrong sweetheart? Spencer was definitely worried now. "Should I get mom?"

"Please Daddy?" she requested.

"Shan, can you come up to Julia's room please?" he yelled down the stairs.

Shannon wasn't sure why Spencer wanted her in Julia's room, but his tone suggested that it was urgent.

"Hey babe, what's going on?" Shannon queried as she walked into Julia's room. Why is Julia lying on the floor?"

"I don't know. She was on the floor when I walked past her room and she didn't want to get up."

"Julia baby, what's wrong?" Shannon asked.

"Dizzy, can't see, can't walk," she mumbled.

Shannon was perplexed. Her oldest daughter had been complaining of not feeling well for the last two days, but Shannon had figured it was just a cold or allergies. Now she was beginning to think that whatever was making Julia sick was more than a cold. "Do you feel worse than you did yesterday?" she asked softly.

"Uh huh," Julia muttered.

"I think it's time to take you to the doctor," Shannon responded.

"Okay," Julia replied.

Are you taking her or am I?" Spencer asked Shannon.

I'll take her and you can stay with the little ones," Shannon replied. Since becoming a stay at home mom, Shannon was the one who took the kids to most of their doctor appointments. The advantage of Spencer having the day off was that she wouldn't need to find someone to watch their younger children.

"Julia can you stand up if I help you?" Spencer asked her.

"I can try," she responded. She sat up slowly, but even the littlest movement made her extremely dizzy. "Make sure I don't fall Daddy?" Julia requested as she tried to stand up.

"Of course sweetie," Spencer reassured her. After she stood up, she started walking to her bedroom door. She almost fell after only 3 steps, so Spencer picked her up and carried her downstairs. Once downstairs, Julia put on her shoes before Spencer carried her out to their minivan.

The drive to the hospital was short, but Julia slept the entire time. Once at the hospital, Shannon pulled up to the Emergency Department entrance. She left Julia in the van and went into the hospital to get someone to bring out a wheelchair. After nearly 45 minutes of sitting in the waiting room, they were finally called back to one of the triage rooms. Julia allowed a nurse to take her vitals but she fell asleep on the stretcher as soon as the nurse was gone.

She was woken up a short time later when the doctor entered the room. "Hello Julia, my name is Dr. Joe. What brings you here today?" he asked her.

"I'm really dizzy, I can't see and I am always sleepy. I tried getting out of bed at home, but I fell after just a couple of steps," Julia explained.

Dr. Joe asked a few more questions, some of which Julia answered while Shannon answered others.

"Okay mom," Dr. Joe addressed Shannon, "I am going to order some tests so that we can find out why Julia isn't feeling well." Dr. Joe left just as Shannon's phone chirped, alerting her to a new text message.

"What have you found out?" was the text from Spencer.

"Nothing yet, the doctor just left. He's going to do a bunch of tests to figure out what's wrong." Shannon replied

"How is Julia?" Spencer asked, worried about his daughter. He had adopted Julia not long after he and Shannon were married and he loved her just as much as he loved his and Shannon's other children.

"Sleeping again," Shannon told him. "Well she was anyway, a lab tech just walked in and woke her up."

"Poor girl, she's not going to be happy. Text me when you hear something?" Spencer requested.

"Of course. How are the other kiddos?" Shannon wanted to know.

"Worried about their big sister," Spencer informed her. "I think they are making cards for her."

"She'll love that. I'll text you when I find out something. Love you," was her reply.

"I love you too," Spencer responded.

"Hi Julia. My name is Sasha. Can you tell me your birthday?"

"October 20, 2007," Julia responded sleepily. Sasha looked at her clipboard to confirm that Julia had given her the date listed on the form.

"Thank you. I need to take some blood so that we can try to find out why you're sick." Sasha told her.

"Mama," Julia cried, realizing why Sasha was there.

"Oh baby, it's going to hurt a little bit but this will help tell us why you're so sick," Shannon comforted her daughter. She didn't like the though of her baby being hurt, but she knew that the blood tests were necessary. "I'll be right here and you can squeeze my hand as hard as you want."

Sasha quickly readied all of the equipment that she needed. Drawing blood from children was her least favorite part of her job.

"Oww, Julia whined as the needle pierced her skin.

"Do you have any siblings? Sasha asked, knowing that the question would distract Julia.

"Two little brothers and two little sisters," Julia replied. Luke and Lily are almost five, Marissa is three and Jake just turned two.

"Wow, that seems like a lot of little kids," Sasha replied. "Do you like having that many siblings?"

"Yeah. I was an only child for a long time. Siblings are fun, even though sometimes they drive me crazy." Julia said with a smile.

"That's what siblings are for. My little sister is 20 and she still goes through my stuff and borrows my clothes. Of course now I can borrow her clothes too." Sasha told her.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a while before Lily and Marissa are trying to borrow my clothes," Julia reasoned.

"Probably," Sasha stated. "Look, we're all done." She quickly put a piece of gauze on Julia's arm and then taped it in place.

"Yay, no more needles!" Julia exclaimed. Sasha left the room, leaving mother and daughter alone again.

"How do you feel baby girl?" Shannon queried.

"Still tired and dizzy. And thirsty too," Julia complained.

"Why don't you nap for a little while?" Shannon suggested. "I can wake you up when the doctor comes back."

"Okay," Julia agreed as she snuggled into the thin hospital blanket. The stretcher she was lying on wasn't too comfortable but she managed to fall asleep in just a few minutes.

A soft knock on the door caught Shannon's attention a few minutes later. "Mrs. Reid can we talk for a minute?" Dr. Joe questioned as he walked into the room.

"Of course," Shannon agreed. "I'll be right back," she whispered to a still sleeping Julia.

The two adults quietly discussed the results of Julia's bloodwork. Dr Joe wanted to explain the diagnosis to Shannon before sharing it with Julia. Shannon stood there and listened. She didn't know much about diabetes but she was sure that if Spencer were here he would know various facts related to her diagnosis.

Julia stirred in the hospital room, waking up and wondering why she could hear her mom but couldn't see her. "Mom," she called.

"Did you find out why I'm so sick?" Julia questioned Dr. Joe.

"We did; and now that we know what's making you sick we can start making you feel better," Dr. Joe told his young patient.

"So why am I sick?" Julia inquired.

"You are in diabetic ketoacidosis," he started to explain.

"Huh?" Julia asked with a confused look on her face.

"You have Type 1 Diabetes. Your pancreas quit making insulin which made your blood sugar go much higher than normal," Dr Joe stated. "You are going to spend a few days at DC Children's Hospital. There you will have nurses to help you get better and you will learn more about diabetes.

"So when will it go away?" Julia questioned. Shannon reached over and grabbed her daughter's hand. This innocent question broke her heart.

"Type 1 Diabetes doesn't go away. However, there are lots of ways to manage it so that you can stay healthy," Dr Joe tried to reassure her.

"Oh okay," Julia said even though she still didn't understand what Dr. Joe was saying.

"They are waiting for her at Children's Hospital. She'll be on the endocrinology floor there. Dr Joe informed Shannon. "Here is a referral to Dr. William Stone. He is an excellent pediatric endocrinologist and also a good friend of mine."

"Mama?" Julia cried after Dr. Joe left the room.

"What baby?" Shannon responded.

"How am I getting to the other hospital? How long will I stay there? Does daddy know yet? " Julia bombarded her mom with questions.

"An ambulance will take us to the other hospital but I don't know how long you'll be there. Daddy doesn't know yet. I'm going to call him soon," Shannon answered each question. Just then, the transport team came in the room to let Shannon and Julia know that the ambulance was waiting for them.


End file.
